Ready for the transparent car?

System could become commercially available soon

Nov 7, 2014

Some cars have so much sheet metal that having a camera mounted at the rear and projecting the image onto a video screen on the center console becomes a must. Others make do with a sonar system and put all their faith in how rapid the beeps are emitted as an object gets closer and closer to making contact with the car.

Well, Keio University in Japan may have come up with a solution, and that's through an augmented reality system that makes the car's cabin practically transparent.

The system works through cameras mounted outside the car. The images the cameras capture are processed by a computer and passed through a projector and onto a mirror, which then reflects the images against a retroreflective screen. What makes the images look realistic is that the computer processes them to match the driver's viewpoint. For the video you'll see below, the system was mounted in a Toyota Prius with the camera capturing the images from behind the car.

According to Keio University, it is now collaborating with several automakers and automotive electronics companies "in turning our concept into a commercial system."

"As engineers continue to improve active displays, such as OLEDs, by making them brighter and by manipulating them so that they conform to complex surfaces, our technology may find wider application--wherever we need to see through things," the university added.

Do you think we'll actually see the system in mass-produced cars in our lifetime? Check out how it works in the video below.

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